The last beat of my heart
by Lilith
Summary: Sarah needs a challenge....will Jareth succeed ?


# The last beat of my heart

by Lilith ( [jmpoley@hetnet.nl][1] )

Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth and everything related to it. Neither do I own "The last beat of my heart" because it's a fabulous song by Siouxsie and the Banshees!!!

Sarah stood in front of her bedroom window. The street looked deserted, except for a young girl who was running by. Rain poured down, making the clothes of the girl stick to her body. A flash of lightning lit up the scene. Sarah could now see the dog that was running next to the girl. A melancholic smile crossed her face. It could have been her, running down the street, followed by a dog. She did so, five years ago. Even the weather had been the same then. Her eyes followed the girl until she was out of sight. The young woman behind the glass frowned. She couldn't help but feeling, her seeing this scene, meant something. A load crack of thunder made her shiver. 

Silently she turned, overlooking her room. The vague forms of her treasures were hardly to be seen in the darkness of the room. She didn't care to turn on the light. She wanted it to be dark. She liked the shadows. This was the only place she felt safe. Her own room that hadn't changed a bit for years. She didn't want it to change. Too much already had. 

Her life seemed to be perfect. Everything thing she did turned out to be a success. Every risk she took always ended up her way. The best universities had asked, no, begged her to come. She had chosen the most difficult things to study, always to find out that they weren't difficult for her. And there had been boys. Boys that had loved her, boys that tried to court her. But she had always found that even this seemed to be too easy.

Where was the challenge? Where was somebody who could and dared to resist her? Lost in thoughts she seated herself in front of her vanity table. Staring absent minded in the black mirror. She knew the answer, for there had only been one challenge in her life. She bit her lip while her mind drifted away to a moment, five years ago. It had been that girl she had seen running by, that had fed her thoughts about this subject. 

Her cheeks coloured as she thought of that night. It had been this experience that made everything look so dull now. For a second she closed her eyes, feeling the excitement running through her body. Her thoughts ran over her actions then. She grinned as she thought of her mistakes, the things she did on impulse. The things she had said. The creatures she had encountered. The enemy she had met. 

With a bitter smile she added to herself "My equal" The only person who had been able to dare her. He had succeeded, she had learned so much from him. But it had been much later before she had came to understood what impact the whole magical event had left in her mind and body. It had made her grow up. But it had also made her own world boring. A deep sigh escaped her lips. She had came to the conclusion that they both had lost the challenge. He had lost the game itself, but she had lost her joy in this world that suddenly appeared to be so boring. She had lost her chance to be with the only man she had ever met, who was able to live up to her demands. Life wouldn't be boring with him by her side. 

She had lost him, but it had been the game that made her. Still she couldn't help but ask herself if there would have been another way. She had thought over it a million times. But she had only came to understand that he probably had loved her, and she loved him. And she would always love him. But would she ever see him again. Would he ever forgive her. Would she ever be able to forgive him ? He was a bad guy, after all. Her mind drifted off… 

"In the sharp gust of love

my memory stirred

when time wreathed a rose

a garland of shame

its thorn my only delight

war-torn, afraid to speak

we dare to breathe." 

Her eyes flew open. Something felt different. But this thought faded in a feeling of confuse and lost its importance. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. The confusing feeling had found it's origin. It wasn't her own reflection. The image at the other side of the mirror seemed to hold his breath. Not daring to speak, afraid to ruin it all. 

Sarah stared back, feeling the same way. She didn't know how long she had been sitting like this, but slowly, a feeling that washed over all others, crystallised in her mind.

"Majestic

Imperial

A bridge of sighs

solitude sails 

in a wave of forgiveness

on angel wings"

Here was the face she had dreamed of. The man she had cursed. The king of the world she longed for. All the anger that had been inside her washed away, leaving the other half of her feelings for the man in the mirror exposed to her own critical mind. She had never seen it all so clear. Fear crept through her veins. Suddenly she got up and stepped backwards. The face in the mirror seemed to panic. 

"Reach out your hands

Don't turn your back

Don't walk away."

For a moment she stood motionless, then slowly she reached her hand towards the mirror. She gasped for air as the man inside did the same. At the surface of the mirror their fingers touched. They intertwined. Sarah closed her eyes as she felt how she was drawn into the mirror. 

For a second a freezing cold crept to her body. Then it was all over and she felt strangely weightless, although she could feel something solid beneath her feet. She opened her eyes, but she didn't see what she had expected to. 

Everywhere around her was a pulsing shade of blue, made of a material that seemed to be both fluid as solid.And opposite of her stood the king. Her eyes ran over his features. A warm feeling lit up her heart. The confusing thoughts were gone, everything was clear now. She felt surprised.

"How in the world

Can I wish for this?

Never to be torn apart

Close to you

'til the last beat

of my heart"

The king bowed and whispered her name: "Sarah." She wanted to make a gracious gesture to him, but her body seemed to be paralysed. Only her lips wanted to part: "Jareth".A smile she knew so well crossed his face. With a wave of his hand a gate appeared behind his back. He obviously didn't care to look at it, as his eyes never left her. His voice sounded cold as he spoke: "Behind this is my world. The Underground with its Labyrinth." 

Without a sound the doors opened a showed the world she had wished for. She wanted to tell him how she had dreamed of this, but he gestured her not to speak. He pointed behind her: "Behind you is the gate to your world. We are now standing in a gateway between our worlds." Slowly she turned and saw her room and through the window she could she the weather had cleared. Leaving a clear darkening sky as the sun set.

"At the close of day

the sunset cloaks

these words in shadowplay"

Jareth continued. "Look what I am offering you, Sarah." She tore her eyes from her room and stared at him with an angry look. "Don't remind me, Jareth. I thought we had left that behind us. I won, Jareth!" Jareths look on his face changed from haughty to furious: "I think you lost as much as I did, Sarah. But if you don't want to listen, I'll leave you here, just slip back into your small world! As I'll do the same!" Sarah froze.

"Here & now, long & loud

my heart cries out

and the naked bone of an echo says

don'twalk away"

Silently she nodded. Jareth grinned. For a moment Sarah thought she saw relief on his face, but he turned his face away before she could tell. The pulsing blue seemed to grow thicker. Jareth looked at the light for a second and then turned hastily to Sarah. 'We're running out of time. Like I just said, I've got something to offer…" His voice trailed away as he stared distracted at the surroundings. Sarah waited patiently, curious of what he could offer. At last Jareth looked up to her, gazing into her eyes: "Come to my world, Sarah." 

"Reach out your hands

I'm just a step away."

Sarah couldn't believe her ears. Before she could utter a sound, Jareth continued: "I have got a world to rule and enemies to take care of." He paused. Sarah added what was not spoken: "And children to take from their houses!" His face was blank when he answered: "They ask me to do so." They both fell silent. Sarah knew he was right. But still she didn't like the whole thing. "I can read from your face, you still disagree." He chuckled. Sarah couldn't help but smile. Jareth reached out his hand towards her: "I want you to come to rule with me. There is so much to do."

"How in the world

Can I wish for this?

Never to be torn apart

Close to you

'til the last beat

of my heart"

Sarah grinned. The question was so much like she expected from him. Never ask for help, just put it in another way. She looked into his mismatched eyes: "And what if we end up fighting like cat and dog?" Jareth shrugged: "Once you've come to the Underground, you can never go back. But that's just a risk to take." Sarah smiled brightly en took his hand. "Well, let's go then." Inside her mind she was singing at the top of her lungs, while repeating one word. Risks, risks, risks. Risks to be taken while he was at her side.A strange twist of fate made her enemy into her saviour.

"How in the world

Can I wish for this?

Never to be torn apart

'til the last beat

'til the last fleeting beat

of my heart."

## THE END

   [1]: mailto:jmpoley@hetnet.nl



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